Parenting & Evaluation Articles

This is a no-holds-barred, tell-it-like-it-is introduction to family court and the role of the special master. The special master's role in custody cases is to make decisions about children when the parents cannot.

A Parenting Evaluation (PE), also called a Custody Evaluation, is a formal investigation that attempts to assess the level of each parent's respective parenting skills, and to determine which parent may be best suited to care for a child or children.

This article covers common psychological tests that are given in nearly all custody evaluations in order to assess each parent's mental and emotional health, as well as to identify any abnormal psychological conditions (personality disorders, neurotic behaviors, etc).

This outstanding article, written by Ira Gorman, Ph.D., discusses, among other things, the use and mis-use of many of the various 'personality' or psychological tests frequently administered in the course of evaluations.

The MMPI is one of the standard tests that is often given in the course of custody evaluations. Abnormally elevated scores on certain scales are considered to be indicative of various kinds of metal illness.

A "home study" (also called a "home inspection") may be requested by either party in a divorce and custody action or it may be ordered by a judge. A home study is pretty much what it sounds like: an evaluation of a child's place of residence.